ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Hawks left the nest once more for a contest at Maryville University, facing off against the DI Independent Saints team. Raje Alleyne made a Herculean effort to try and lead QU to victory, setting new career marks in points (36.5) and kills (33) as well as tying a career-high eight digs all while hitting a ridiculous .569, but it ultimately still wasn't enough as MU took the match in five sets (25-18, 19-25, 25-19, 25-21, 11-15). 

The 33-kill outburst for Alleyne doesn't just set a new career-high for the junior opposite who currently has the nations third best kill/set margin, but also ranks third all-time in the team record books for kills in a single match behind Rob Steinkuehler, who holds the top two spots with 46 and 48 kills both from the 2000 season. 

Set One

After some trading of points to open up the match, QU started to gain some traction at the 6-6 mark, taking six of the next seven on a pair of kills for Alleyne, one of Zackary Zdrojeski's 10 kills and some Maryville errors to lead it 12-7. MU worked it's way back into the set, narrowing the deficit to two at 17-15. 

The Hawks took five of seven points on more kills from Alleyne and Zdrojeski along with more Saints errors to resupply the advantage to 22-17. Following a point for the opposition, a pair of kills from Alleyne and another from Zdrojeski cleaned up a 25-18 first set win. 

Set Two

Quincy took the initiative early, using kills from Alleyne and Roman Deryckere along with blocks from Alleyne, Deryckere and Zdrojeski put QU ahead 8-5. Maryville evened the score shortly after before the sides traded points up to the 15-15 mark where a five-point Saints run put the Hawks in a tough spot down 20-15. 

The Hawks weren't able to do much going down the stretch as the late MU run led them to a 25-19 victory. 

Set Three

Neither side got much of a leg up on the other for the first 20 points of the set until the Saints used a four and three-point run sandwiching a Keegan Carey kill to build a 17-11 advantage. QU was able to go on a bit of a run later in the set, using a four point run at 21-13 to pull within four, but the Hawks came no closer than that in a 25-19 with in the third for MU. 

Set Four

Seven of the first 11 went in favor of the Hawks, capped off by a ace from Alleyne to make it 7-4. Maryville responded with seven of the next nine points to race out in front 11-9. Quincy equalized on kills from Zdrojeski and AJ Goedheer before the sides traded two and one-point runs up to the 19-19 mark. 

QU got the burst it needed down the stretch, using a four-point run on kills from Alleyne and Deryckere along with an error to build the late 23-19 edge. An error and another kill for Alleyne off a feed from Logan Brouwer gave the Hawks a 25-21 win in the fourth set. 

Set Five

Raje Alleyne took three of the first four points of the fifth set to to build an early advantage before MU came right back and knotted things up at 5-5 shortly after. The Saints went on a three-point run before QU took three of the next four to trail it 9-8. That was the closest the Hawks would get as Maryville took five of the next six points to lead 14-9. MU took the set 15-11 and the match three sets to two. 

Next Up

The Hawks have a quick turnaround facing off against the Miners of Missouri S&T for another nonconference showdown on the road on Saturday (Mar. 9). First serve from Rolla, MO is slated for 2:00 PM.